Manta hurt
by Prats 'R' Us
Summary: Manta's Father has gone too far, Yoh needs to get Manta away from him before his father kills him, and with Mr Oyamada's rage, that could be sooner then they think. slash YohxManta I think.
1. Chapter 1

Yay my first Shaman King Fic, I hope you like it, I'm still working on it so any suggestions or comments are more then welcome, I haven't really come up with a real name yet so Manta hurt will have to do. Basically it's about Manta getting hurt by his father to the point where he may need to be hospitalized, but how will Yoh cope and will they be able to get Manta away for the family and man that would have killed him had it not been for the fact that they would have been late for the opera. Anyway enjoy.

**Hurt**

Manta sat with his back against the wall, his breathing coming in sharp breaths. He was late coming home, and to make things worse, his father had found out that he had been skipping out on his cram schooling so he could hang out with his friends, resulting in one hell of a beating for the abnormally small boy. He was convinced that he had a few broken ribs, he figured that he was lucky that his skull hadn't fractured. He felt hot tears roll down his cheeks, his dad would have killed him, the only reason he stopped was because his mother had pleaded with him, oh she wasn't worried about Manta no, you see she had opera tickets, and if they didn't leave they would have been late. He shook in fear as he recalled his father's last words.

"I'll be back to deal with you afterwards you ungrateful, selfish, brat," he said as he walked out of the room, following his wife as Mannoko followed behind her father, an evil grin on her face. His mother stopped at the door briefly.

"Honestly why can't you have been more like your sister, you're a disgrace to this family Manta," she had said to him before leaving, before leaving him alone broken and bleeding in the place he called home. Home? Yeah right, this wasn't a home; this was just a place where he slept, no his home was back at the inn with Yoh and the others, that was his real home.

He closed his eyes trying to gather up enough strength to move, he cried out in pain before falling flat on his face. More tears flowed from his eyes, no this wasn't the time. He had to get out of here, he may have lived from this beating, but there was no telling whether or not he would survive the next. He steeled himself before trying to push himself back up.

Once he made it to his feet, he grabbed onto anything that he could to help him stand. Slowly he made his way over to his door. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes as he slowly made his way through the halls, using the walls for support.

He froze as he heard footfalls coming from round the corner, squeezing his eyes shut tightly; he prayed that it wasn't his father.

"Master Manta!" a voice called out to him. Manta released the breath he had been holding, it was one of his father's servants. With a lot of effort Manta managed to look up at the startled female servant.

"Yuki, What are you doing here?" he asked her knowing that his mother had given the staff the night off. Yuki looked to the boy with tears in her eyes.

"I saw you coming home, I was worried about you when I realized how late it was. I came too make sure that you were alright," she said rushing over to help the kneeling boy. Manta tried to put on a smile for the women, but it came off as more of a grimace.

"Thank you Yuki, I'm ok," he said through gritted teeth, doing his best to keep the tears of pain at bay. He didn't want to worry her, he had always like Yuki. She always cared for him and even bought him presents. Before Yoh she was his only friend.

Yuki burst into tears as she scooped the small child up into a gentle embrace.  
"I'm so sorry Manta, I'm a horrible person!" she cried trying her best not to hurt the boy, "I know what your father has been like towards you, we all knew. But....But we were so scared....So scared about our own asses that we just overlooked your suffering," she sobbed as she held to the small blonde. Manta smiled at her before putting his arms around her.

"I understand Yuki, I would worry about your safety too, and if my father finds you here....." he said trailing off sadly as he pushed her away to look her in the eyes. "You must leave," he said firmly to her. Yuki's eyes widened, he was such a special boy. She felt more tears fall down her face.

"We will," she said, Manta squirmed in her grip.  
"No! If my father finds out you helped me...." again he trailed off, not liking to think about the consequences. Yuki smiled a sad smile at him.

"Manta ...I'm dying," she said sadly.  
"W-what?" Manta asked in a disbelieving whisper.  
"Cancer. The doctor says I've only got a couple of months left, but....But I want to help you, I need to help you Manta, I need to repent for my sins," she said with unshed tears shining in her eyes. Manta felt a few tears begin to roll down his face, he was crying. But he wasn't crying for himself, he was crying for her. He nodded in understanding, she needed to do this, and he had no right to refuse. She smiled at him before standing. He was nestled in her arms as she walked back to his room.

Manta rested his head against her, he could hear her rummaging around for something but was too tired to even move now that he was comfortable.

"Ah got it," Yuki said to herself as she pocketed Manta's phone. She looked down at Manta and could see that he was losing consciousness. She panicked, she couldn't take him to the hospital otherwise his father would know that she had helped him.

Before she even knew it she was in her car with Manta safely belted into the passenger seat as she drove away from the house. She drove around idly for forty-five minutes before she realized she didn't know where she was going. She couldn't go back to hers. That would be kidnap. She may be dying but she didn't want to spend her last few months in prison. She looked over to Manta and mentally cursed, he was out cold. She pulled her car over and tried shaking the boy, but his lack of reaction only caused her to panic further.


	2. Chapter 2

Got the next chapter up for you Yay!!!

* * *

"Manta? Manta!" she called to the boy. Nothing, gingerly she put her hand to his neck and was relieved to feel the telling signs of a pulse. "Phone phone....Where did I put that phone!" she cried as she rummaged through her pockets. She was becoming hysterical as she tried her hardest not to hyperventilate. Once she had found the device she fumbled with the buttons, clicking the redial button she waited for someone to answer.

"Manta? You better have a good reason to ring me during my training time," a voice hissed from the other side, but if Yuki wasn't in such a panic she would have heard the relief and friendliness in the persons voice.

"Please you....You have to help me," she cried into the phone stopping the person on the other line in the middle of his rant.

"Who is this and how did you get this phone?" the voice asked accusingly.

"M-my name is Yuki Hioj....Never mind," she said realizing that she couldn't let the boy on the other line know her name. "Please, I....I need Help M-manta...." she stuttered but the person butted in.

"Manta? What happened to Manta?" he asked harshly, his voice filled with protectiveness for his friend.

"He's...He's oh god..." she sobbed, "He's unconscious, I-i-i can't get him to wake up!" she cried looking back to the boy.

"Well call an ambulance!" the voice ordered down the phone, his tone making Yuki's panic rise.

"I can't his father...." she trailed off as she broke into more sobs. It was awhile before the boy on the other line spoke to her, though she could hear him muttering curses under his breath.

"Where are you?" he asked.

Yuki looked around, she had no idea where she was, she looked for any road marks to help her.

"I-i don't know!" she cried into the phone, she had completely lost her cool. She could hear the boy on the other side curse again.

"Ok listen to me, calm down and get out of your car," he instructed in a calm voice hoping that it would calm the panicking woman down.

"I-i'm out," she said into the phone calmer then before as she waited for the boy to say something.

"Good, now what can you see? What are you near?" he asked her.

"I can see shops, an ice cream shop, and.... And there's a grave yard," she answered with tears in her eyes. She panicked as she got no reply from the boy. "Hello, where are you?! Please help me!" she began sobbing again, holding the phone to her ear as she knelt down on her knees.

"Hello? Yuki!?"

"Yes....Yes I'm here!" she cried in relief as her support had reappeared.

"Ok good. Now I need you to check on Manta ok?" he asked her. She nodded not realizing that he couldn't see her. "Yuki?"

"Yes, he's still out cold, and his pulse is really fast," she said in a panic.

"Ok just stay where you are, I have called a friend of mine who lives in the area, he will come and get Manta, can you do that?"

"Ye-yes," she replied calming down as she got back into her car.

"Good his name is Yoh, he'll take care of Manta. Now I need you to tell me what happened to him," the person asked her, she froze, she wanted to help him but?

"I found him....In the hallway of his house, he was trying to find help, I don't know what happened," she replied as a tear escaped her eye, _coward!_ Her mind spat at her.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened?"

"I-i-i-i-i-i......." what was she to do; if she told them and _He_ found out, she bit her lip. She had heard rumours about what he did to people he didn't like, and he practically did them to his own son without the to death part, would he do them to her? But could she just leave Manta with him, what if the next time it is to death? She was going to die anyway. Why let Manta suffer to save her own hide when it already had an expiry date on it. She knew what to do.

"His father," she answered.

"His father?"

"Yes, Mr Oyamada found out that Manta had been skipping out on his schooling and he was also late home, so Mr Oyamada dealt with it in his usual way. Please you have to stop this, he'll kill him! He'll kill me just for helping Manta!" she cried.

"Calm down! I can assure you that Manta will be perfectly fine, we won't let anything happen to him, he has risked his life for us just like we would and will do for him," the voice said harshly on the other line giving Yuki no choice but to calm down. She could hear the silent rage in the other persons voice.

"How long?" he asked her.

"How long what?" she asked confused as to what he wanted of her.

"How long has he been treating Manta like this?" he asked returning to his calm like demeanour.

"I-I don't know, I've only worked there for two years but, I've heard rumours," she said biting her lip.

"Rumours?"

"I-I look I don't know ok! I've heard a couple of things about Manta being in hospital for weeks even months because of Mr Oyamada's brutality but I don't know, you'll have to ask him!" she answered referring to Manta the person on the other line sighed.

"So a long time then?"

"Yeah," she answered dejectedly.

"Why wouldn't he mention this?" the person asked, his voice sounded hurt at the mistrust.

"I can only guess...Because the last person who tried to help Manta ended up in the hospital, at least that's what I've heard," she whispered, she burst into tears again, "Manta, he's such a good little boy, always trying to put on a smile for us, he even told me to leave him! He...He always helps when he can, even taking the blame, for us servants, his family....hic....They don't care about him! They never have, he's not his sister! And he's not the person they want him to be!" she continued to cry, she didn't even notice when the phone died, leaving her alone to cry with an unconscious minor next to her.

"Hello! A-are you still there?!" she cried, she hit the steering wheel when she realized that the battery had died. She screamed in fright when someone opened the car's passenger door.

"Manta!" the person cried, it was then that she noticed the 'attacker' was just a young boy.

"A-are you Yoh?" she asked him getting the boy's attention. Yoh looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

"Yes I-I'm Yoh, is...Is..." he tried to ask. Yuki watched him as he gently cradled the boy once he had managed to get the seat belt off of him. She bit her lip again as an inner battle waged inside her.

"Get in, I'll drive you to your house but that's as far as I can go," she said with shaky determination.

Ren scowled at the mobile in his lap. He hoped that the reason the woman on the other line had hung up on him were good for them. He sighed as he turned to look at Jun who was busy on her phone getting in touch with Faust so that he could take a look at Manta, they were in the car on their way home from Yoh's when Ren got the phone call. Jun hung up and looked to him.

"Faust has just finished his shift at the local hospital," she said with a small smile trying to comfort her brother. She turned to the driver. "Pyron we need to head to the hospital to pick up Faust," she said before she began directing him towards the hospital.

"Yes Mistress Jun."

"Don't worry Ren, Manta will be fine," Jun said in a comforting voice as she watch Pyron drive.

Yoh held his small friend close to him, tears shone in his eyes as he looked at the state of Manta. Manta was still unconscious. Once Yuki arrived outside the inn, Yoh jumped out of the car, not even bothering to wait for the car to come to a stop, he was lucky that Yuki's car seemed to be the only one on the road.

"Tell Manta....I'm sorry," Yuki said to Yoh shouting out of the window before speeding away from the pair, Yoh nodded at her but didn't stop to look at her on his walk to his front door.


End file.
